Friday, April 15, 2011

After yesterday's post considering a possible reincarnation, and Wednesday's about Manly P. Hall and his beliefs, thoughts about reincarnation still hover.

An Arty Farty reincarnation medley for today then: illustrations, a poem, a story, quotes......but first some words on astrology and reincarnation.

I'm on the fence. I don't know. Nor, actually, does anyone else. But many have written trillions of words on the subject. The best few words on the topic I've found, from an astrologer, are at The Real Astrology website. Astrologer Kevin Burk has a section there devoted to answering readers' questions. In response to a question about finding evidence of reincarnation in a natal chart he wrote this:

Peg,I don’t think that any single element in the chart can identify what our Sun Sign was in a past incarnation. As you’ve no doubt noticed, the books that present these various theories also tend to be the books that greatly over-emphasize the importance of the Sun Sign in the first place.

Astrology can most certainly provide information about past lives, and one of the key sources for this information is the South Node. But before we go any further, it’s important to remember that time, and particularly our three-dimensional linear perception of time, is an illusion. Personally, I believe that it is impossible to tell if something is from a ‘past life’ or from a ‘future life’ because ultimately there is no difference...and therefore, trying to find out who you were the last time you were here is rather futile.

The South Node describes experiences that we have had in a past life, or in past lives. We are meant to take these experiences and bring them to the next level by working with the North Node. However, the South Node may represent a collection of past lives, or a single, specific past life, but not the most recent life. My personal philosophy is that whatever I did and whoever I was, I’m here now and that’s all that matters. I’m always open to insight from my past experiences, particularly when it applies to patterns and issues that I’m working on in this current lifetime, but my interest in my past lives doesn’t go much deeper than that.

With strong reservations, I mention Martin Schulman’s Book, Karmic Astrology: The Moon’s Nodes and Reincarnation. Schulman does explore the various past life lessons presented by the South Node; however he does so in (what I feel) is a very fatalistic and almost accusatory manner. It is, however, the only book on the Nodes that I have seen that specifically addresses the question of past lives. http://www.therealastrology.com/

PAST LIVES by Maxine Olson

QUOTES:

"Doctrine of reincarnation is neither absurd nor useless. It is not more surprising to be born twice than once."- Voltaire

"We all have some experience of a feeling, that comes over us occasionally, of what we are saying and doing having been said and done before, in a remote time - of our having been surrounded, dim ages ago, by the same faces, objects, and circumstances."- Charles Dickens (David Copperfield)

"It is conceivable that I might well be reborn as a Chinese coolie. In such case I should lodge a protest."- Winston Churchill

"The most promising evidence bearing on reincarnation seems to come from the spontaneous cases, especially among children."- Ian Stevenson

"Have you never observed that children will sometimes, of a sudden, give utterance to ideas which makes us wonder how they got possession of them? Which presuppose a long series of other ideas and secret self-communings? Which break forth like a full stream out of the earth, an infallible sign that the stream was not produced in a moment from a few raindrops, but had long been flowing concealed beneath the ground?"- J. G. Herder

STORY:

The King Milinda once asked the Buddhist sage Nagasena: "When someone is reborn, is he the same as the one who just died, or is he different?"

Nagasena replied: "He is neither the same nor different....Tell me, if a man were to light a lamp, could it provide light the whole night long?""Yes.""Is the flame then which burns in the first watch of the night the same as the one that burns in the second...or the last?""No.""Does that mean there is one lamp in the first watch of the night, another in the second, and another in the third?""No, it's because of that one lamp that the light shines all night.""Rebirth is much the same. One phenomenon arises and another stops, simultaneously. So the first act of consciousness in the new existence is neither the same as the last act of consciousness in the previous existence, nor is it different."

Sometimes you think you've lived before All that you live today Things you do come back to youAs though they knew the wayOh, the tricks your mind can play!

REFRAIN

It seem we stood and talked like this before we looked at each other in the same way then, But I can't remember where or when. The clothes you're wearing are the clothes you wore. The smile you are smiling you were smilimg then, But I can't remember where or when.

Some things that happend for the first time, Seem to be happening again. Amd so it seems that we have met before and laughed before and loved before, But who knows where or when.

NOTE: Eagle-eyed passing readers might notice that I am not providing many direct hyper-links these days. Reason: Blogger techies have provided an updated editing facility, which I don't care for, and which has caused a "bug" in the old editing program. The "bug" collapses paragraphs when trying to use the hyperlink facility - other stuff too. Blogger is working to sort the problem out - it is said. So - apologies for lack of hyperlinks and other niceties.

14 comments:

What tends to put me off the reincarnation idea is the notion that we have to 'pay' in this life for 'sins' we committed in the past one. I do not find such notions in the least empowering. One life at a time is more than enough for me. And then there are the endless stories of the regressors who have been kings, queens, warlocks and witches: one so seldom hears, if ever, someone admit to being a plain old nobody in a previous life.

Pertaining to the letter you cited from Kevin Burk, this passage has great meaning:

"I’m always open to insight from my past experiences, particularly when it applies to patterns and issues that I’m working on in this current lifetime, but my interest in my past lives doesn’t go much deeper than that."

In my mind, reincarnation has as much validity as any other spiritual thought or belief -- possibly more. I've been agnostic, and I've held Christian beliefs, during this particular incarnation. It's not until I was introduced to "the many lives" idea, did I find comfort in this one. Obviously, it's right for me.

Sabina, believers in reincarnation never believe we're paying for past sins during any particular incarnation. As a matter of fact, as Kevin Burk mentioned, we're (our spiritual selves) voluntarily working on "patterns and issues" in order to purify our souls and become closer to our godhead.

Earth's just another laboratory, of sorts, with more "credits" available during this "practicum" than if not sought this way (in the physical form).

Like I mentioned previously, this idea's apparently not comforting to everyone, but that's okay.

Sabina ~~ I'm not keen on that theory either. I prefer the thought that in THIS lifetime we tend to reap what we sow - for good or ill, never mind waiting for any other lifetime to pay our bills.

And...everything - everything we are told is only supposition, assumption, imagination, theory - nobody really knows - the most comforting thing of all -really, nobody needs to know. This is what we have - the here and now.

Jefferson's Guardian ~~~ My views are similar to yours. Been to church, been a Sunday School teacher, been agnostic, been atheistic, and now am an all-round Don't Knower. There ought to be a not-for-profit religion called Don't Knowers. ;-)

Reincarnation is a colourful theory, wide open for exploration and for even more colouring and embroidery. UFOs come into a similar category in my opinion.Maybe....maybe not, in both cases. Either way it's fun just to explore theory.:-)

Quantum physics would appear to advocate the idea of 'past' lives as unlikely, because everything is happening 'now'. 'Past' and 'future' are mere illusions based on our limited senses in this dimension.This is not to denigrate the idea of reincarnation, of course, merely that we are living an infinite number of lives 'now', only in other dimensions. Like a radio set, we are only tuned to one frequency, though there are myriad other stations (lives) out there we cannot experience.It's all hypothetical, of course, and my philosophy is in line with that of Kevin Burk (without the astrology ;-)) and Jefferson's Guardian. One life at a time is quite sufficient.(I only wish I could persuade my wife of that!) ;-)

Twilight, I completely and wholeheartedly agree -- nobody knows for sure. And, even if one did, it's a personal and unique experience that can never really be shared. Each must learn on their own. In the immortal words of John Lennon...

TV series "Fringe" has a theme set around the idea that there's another dimensio, with "us" all players there, but in slightly different guise, to match slightly different situations. Good fictional premise. :-)

I'm never too happy with interpretations of Moon's nodes - for myself. I've found the nodes' cycles are significant in my life pattern though, but I have Uranus on South node which might be the key to that.

I tend to look on the Moon's nodes as two other sensitive points in the chart - sensitive to transits and their return cycles.

But not everybody feels the same - whatever works for you must be right for you!

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About Me

Also answers to Ann or Annie or even Twilight Annie (sounds like a character from Dickens - or Damon Runyan!)
British-born, living in the USA since 2004, US citizen since 2008.
Self-taught non-professional dabbler in astrology, which took up most of the blog-space here from Aug. 2006 to Aug. 2012. The blog now covers more general topics, along with occasional astrology- related posts. Archives can be accessed easily via links in the sidebar.